Happy birthday…USMC…
Semper Fi…
And by coincidence I stepped off the bus 03:30 at Parris Island 41 years ago today.
Ordered to stand on the yellow footprints. Then we sang Happy Birthday…
I remember going to P.I. many weekends with Mom to shop at the commissary. Watching all those Marines there is why I choose the Air Force. We had A/C in our barracks. 
By the way, that was when Walterboro was bigger than Summerville and Beaufort and there was hardly any traffic on Dorchester. Mount Pleasant was still mostly farm land, Hilton Head was one Holiday in and little traffic, Bluffton was all but non existent, and you could buy a lot on Edisto Beach for little to nothing.
What I always thought was so cool about the Marines is you could grab an Admin worker to fight right by yourself in the worst combat situation… Wouldn’t do that with an A.F. admin. Not knocking em, just saying. I remember a few in the day room crying when we found we were likely to be deployed to Sand Land. … I only joined to get an education… Wooosssies. I’ll bet that didn’t happen in the Marine day room.
My Great Uncle Pete ran the PX at P.I. from the 60s, well into the 70s. My Great Aunt worked as an administrative assistant for the base C.O. for years. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time out there, back when you could go onto a military installation and wander around and no one cared.
Funny story. When my dad was a kid, he would go out to P.I. to meet his aunt or uncle and they would eat at one of the mess halls (a big deal for a kid). He’d wander around and sight see waiting for one of them to get off work and catch a ride back into Beaufort. One day he wandered near the reception/evaluation center (where the new boots came in) and was just looking around when a D.I. comes over, gets right in his face and starts yelling at him to, “get back over there” and “what in the hell do you think you’re doing”. My dad said he was so scared, he started crying and said, “I’m only 12 years old”. My dad was a big kid for his age (played varsity football as an 8th grader).
We always got a good laugh out of that story.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARINE CORPS! Even though my dad was a Navy man.
"Apathy is the Glove into Which Evil Slips It's Hand", but really, who cares?
Fred…
When the Marines barracks was bombed in Beirut our battalions turn in the rotation for air alert. 30 days…
1 company would be restricted to company area. Carried weapons not turned into armory
1 company would be restricted to base.
2 company allowed to go to town.
No one granted leave.
C-141s sitting on the runways ready to go…
My company was in the hot seat that day. We got the call and headed to the runway. Sat on the tarmac about 4 hours. Never boarded the plane. Then ordered to stand down go back to the barracks… several incidents at The barracks when we got back. Piss trough rip off the wall Footlocker through a window. Needless to say that did not go over well with our Co and especially with our battalion Commander…
No one got NJP out of it. But our company got 60 days duty company and restriction. K p, guard duty and maintenance. I think we painted every Rock on base…
You find things offensive. I find things funny. That's why I'm happier than you.
22 life’s a day